7 First Dances

Jan and Russ decided that their wedding day wouldn't be just about them. They also wanted it to be special for their 125 friends and family who joined them at the Hotel De Anza in San Jose. For starters, Jan's Mom, Betty, was her Matron of Honor! How cool! Apart from their own First Dance, Jan and Russ also asked me to play the First Dance songs of 6 other married couples who were at the reception. Of course, I didn't play them all back to back. (I just kind of sprinkled them in throughout the evening) It was neat to see the expressions on their faces as I played each song . For some, I'm sure it was the first time they danced to their special song since their actual wedding day. Photo by Kimberly Parish.Special Dance Songs For Jan and Russ:

First Dance: "Making Memories of Us" by Keith Urban
Father-Daughter Dance: "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong
Farewell Dance: "When You Say Nothing At All" by Allison Kraus

New York, New York.

Alex and Jason live in New York but came back to the Bay Area this week to get married. (I typically have 7 or 8 clients every year who plan their weddings from out of state.) I had a feeling this was going to be a wild party when I saw the Bride and Groom doing tequila shots on the dance floor with about 10 people long before the dancing even started! I was right...it was wild and crazy! They arrived in style in this very beautiful and unique 1939 Chevrolet Master Deluxe. Very cool.About 120 guests celebrated with Alex and Jason last night and they came from all over the United States to attend. It was a super-fun evening and I even got to play some Latin music! Here are some of their special requests:

First Dance: "To Know Her is To Love Her" by The Beatles
Bride-Brother Dance: "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong
Groom-Mother Dance: "Have I Told You Lately" by Rod Stewart
Farewell Dance: "New York, New York" by Frank SinatraAlex had a huge smile on her face for the entire evening which doesn't surprise me because she was always so happy and positive during the planning process. (And of course, she is in love!) It was such a treat for me to be their DJ. And now they are married and off to Fiji! Have fun!

Let's Do It Again.

13 years ago, Kristen and Tony got married. But they decided to skip the big wedding and use the money to buy a house instead. They had an intimate little gathering for about 20 people in their backyard with simple sandwich trays and some beer. They didn't even do a First Dance!

Fast forward 13 years later (and 3 daughter's). Kristen and Tony decided to re-new their vows and have a real celebration with their friends and family this time. Around 80 guests celebrated with them last night. The funny thing is, around 25-30 of those 80 guests were children. That's a lot of kids! I did an event several years ago with that many kids and it made me want to invest in a tranquilizer gun. lol. But these kids were awesome and behaved so well and I really enjoyed playing their requests. (and boy did they request a lot!)
Tony and Kristen planned a very simple, fun, and informal reception which I loved. They skipped the formal introductions and bouquet and garter as well. Everyone knew this night was going be different when they arrived and found lollipops on all of the tables. It was very cute. And of course the kids (and some of the adults) loved them.
Here it is, finally, their First Dance! ("I Cross My Heart" by George Strait) Better late than never! It was beautiful. Tony's buddy Joe, who works with him as a firefighter in Campbell, performed the very sweet vow-renewal ceremony. What a fun night.

Party Time!

It was very clear from the beginning that this group of fun people came to party! That's what I like to see! Good friends Daunielle, Simone, Leti, and Rick decided to combine their four Birthday celebrations into one and throw a very-cool party at The Hotel De Anza in downtown San Jose. 120 of their closest friends showed up on Saturday night for a raging party. This is the "before" photo of the guests of honor. It didn't take too long before people were getting crazy on the dance floor. They requested some classic party songs like "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi, "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mixalot, and "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC. They had a great time. How did they end the evening? I'll give you a hint...Tequila was involved. lol. That was fun! I think more people should combine their birthday parties. What a great idea!

Lunch with Kenny.

I have had the pleasure of meeting some of the biggest artists in the music industry. I was the MC for concerts with Rick Springfield, America, The Doobie Brothers, Huey Lewis, Hall & Oates, Madonna, and so many others. How fun it was to introduce them all on stage!

The staff for Bay Area radio stations 94.5 KBAY and MIX 106.5 got together today for lunch on the patio at Hotel De Anza and Kenny Loggins joined us! Here is a pic of me and my new bud Kenny!

Kenny is in town for his concert at The Mountain Winery in Saratoga. But the best part is...he sang a bunch of songs for us! Just an intimate little mini-concert for 30 people. That was so cool! That was fun. What a great way to kick off the weekend!